Naturally Adaptive Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks Based on Slime Mold

Given an arbitrary deployment of sensor nodes, one fundamental design issue in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is to connect the source nodes collecting sensing data to the sinks so that sensing data flows efficiently and reliably to the sinks. To facilitate such data collection, we require a path formation protocol that will determine multi-hop routes between source nodes and data sinks. We avoid strategies that rely upon global coordination and optimization because these approaches do not scale well in large networks or networks where nodes are added or deleted dynamically, or where connections form or break easily. To find strong solutions that rely upon local interactions, we draw inspiration from true slime mold Physarum polycephalum, a biological system that has properties aligned with the requirements of sensor networks. In particular, Physarum polycephalum dynamics constructs resource distribution networks in response to environmental conditions.